


the divide

by zauberer_sirin



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, F/M, Future Fic, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Parallels, Pre-Canon, Pregnancy, Romance, Skoulson RomFest 2k15 REDUX, skoulsonfest2k15redux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-04-10 15:56:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4398083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zauberer_sirin/pseuds/zauberer_sirin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her father tells her to stay away from humans, to find someone of her kind. But history repeats itself.</p><p>Written for the Skoulson RomFest 2k15 Redux - Prompt: Cal & Jiaying</p>
            </blockquote>





	the divide

She spends a lot of time with Cal before they take him away to put him through the Tahiti Protocol (part of it, anyway). They both know it's the last days they'll have as father and daughter, so they feel the need to tell each other everything. 

The big things at first; family, career, murder attempts in Skye's case – Cal is alarmed, not knowing how to react to Skye's lightness when she tells those stories. They move on to other details; he talks about the music he likes, she talks about food. 

They don't tell each other everything, realizing they can't – Cal doesn't speak of the people he and Jiaying murdered trying to find Skye; Skye will rather die than mention what Ward did to her. But they tell each other enough for it to be a bittersweet comfort. Cal realizes that whatever he doesn't tell her will forever be lost. Skye realizes that from now on she will have to remember for both of them.

"Find someone like you," her father tells her in a strange aside the last day they spend together. "Your mother and I... there's a reason why it could have never worked out. Find someone among your kind."

Skye doesn't know what he means in that moment.

 

+

 

_His colleagues couldn't understand why he'd decided to go to China. He was young and brilliant and he had his own practice, which was only just starting to do well._

_"Precisely," Cal thinks. He couldn't do this at any other moment in his life. If he was settled, if he had a family, he couldn't be here doing this. That's why it couldn't wait. It'll set your career back at least five years, they told him. Cal doesn't care, this is important._

_It's been a month since his cassette player stopped working, so he hums a lot while he works, sometimes breaking into actual song. He's not very good but he hums every kind of stuff; from traditional tunes to Gloria Gaynor._

_"You love those little songs of yours," Jiaying says, grinning._

_"Little songs?" He is offended. "Excuse me, that's Sly and the Family Stone. If you want me to stay. It's a classic." He starts singing again: "Forget reachin' me by phone, because I promise I'll be gone for a while."_

_Jiaying laughs openly at his clowning now._

_"How come you're so good at remembering lyrics and so bad at remembering Chinese words?"_

_He shrugs. He's been here three months and as much as he tries he just can't seem to pick it up. Not any Mandarin, not the local dialect. He's just... bad at it._

_This gives Jiaying an idea. Cal can tell, those super-intelligent eyes of hers lighting up._

_The next day after his shift at the hospital ends Jiaying takes him aside to an empty office and sits him down._

_"You sing," she says, taking out a notebook from her work bag._

_"What?"_

_"Sing one of your songs," she tells him. "We are going to write it down and then I'll teach you what the words are in my language."_

_"That's –"_

_"So maybe you can't remember."_

_"You don't have to do this, Jiaying. This is not part of your job."_

_He can't impose on her like this. She's been such a great help (quick and smart and the way she deals with patients, like everybody can see what a big, compassionate heart she has, even though she keeps to herself so much) and yes, Cal admits he is smitten but, a woman like this, she's not going to –_

_"Sing," she repeats, schoolteacher strict._

_He feels the heat in his cheeks._

_Jiaying laughs loudly – she looks like a different person when she laughs, and Cal gets the feeling she does love to laugh._

_"Okay," she says."_ Blush. _Then sing."_

 

+

 

He finds her in his office, playing one of the records still there.

Coulson has forgotten about those. There hasn't been much time for music lately. Skye has something jazzy in a low volume, like she just needs background noise, more than she wants music.

"Are you all right?" he asks, because it's not usual Skye behavior, specially when they are all so busy.

She looks at her watch.

"They must be operating on him right now."

He realizes what she means and checks his own watch.

He fears she'll start thanking him again for making this possible, because Coulson doesn't want to be thanked like this. She's been avoiding him the last couple of days, like she's embarrassed for asking too much of him. He can't tells her it's not the case without betraying the fact he has noticed. He doesn't want to embarrass her any further if he can help it.

Coulson walks up to her. She's looking out of the window but he can see her eyes. They are looking so much further away.

"You could have gone with him," he tells her. "Be there when they..."

She shakes her head.

"He asked me not to. He said he didn't want me to see him like that."

Coulson understands. He himself told Cal about the details of the operation, how brutal it was.

Skye comes closer. He wishes he could just comfort her, put his arms around her (okay, maybe just one arm) and fix everything. He's never been able to do that for her, simple as it seems. Whatever he has been able to do for her, it has never really been enough. She's still here, unfairly heartbroken and bearing it all herself.

"You know what it's like," she says. "You went through that. Does it hurt so much?"

Skye was there when he relived it, Skye heard him ask to be killed. He doubts it's going to be as bad for Cal, because Cal is not dead or dying, but Coulson is not sure that will make much of a difference. Skye must know this too. There's very little point in lying to her. And he never wants to do that again. He swallows, wanting for it not to be true. Wanting to spare her.

"I can't lie to you," he tells her.

"I know."

"I can tell you this, if it helps," he says. "Cal won't remember the pain."

Skye reaches her hand out, pressing her palm against Coulson's cheek.

"You do," she says.

 

+

 

_He becomes quieter once they become lovers._

_Still funny, still clumsy, but more settled down. His blinding youth in her eyes hadn't let Jiaying see Cal was actually a considerate, observant person. She hadn't thought about him that way at first, he's not the usual kind of person Jiaying would take as a lover._

_She knows she can't lie to him much longer._

_When she tells him – not everything, not just yet – he seems more in awe than shocked. He asks a lot of questions. His beautiful brain trying to catch up with thousands of years of Inhuman history. She's only broken the secrecy a few times in the past, but she knows he can trust Cal. He'd never hurt her. Or anyone. She likes that about him. He's incapable of causing others pain._

_The first night after she tells him they spend in bed, up all night, the lamp light low and their voices low too, as Cal wants to know everything._

_"You've done this before?" he asks._

_She chuckles. It's a bit cruel but what a question._

_"I'm two hundred and eighty-nine years old, Cal. Of course I've bedded humans before."_

_"_ Bedded? _You are old."_

_That part doesn't seem to bother him at all. He says it explains a lot, about her wisdom, her calm. It's funny because Jiaying doesn't feel like a wise or calm person. She guesses in the eyes of a human she must be. Just like Cal is fragile and precious in her eyes._

_"So what happened to them? Your lovers."_

_She looks away for a moment, a moment she takes to remember them, because they were all important, in their own ways. But the story always has the same ending._

_"Human men and women, they tend to die. I didn't want to see that. I left first," she admits._

_"Men and wo–? You know what, it's okay, don't answer that, you don't have to."_

_She kisses him. "You're so young," she says, holding his face in her hand._

_Cal gently pries her fingers away, looking at Jiaying in all seriousness now._

_"So what is it? You're going to have me for a while and then move on?"_

_"No," Jiaying says. "I'm staying with you."_

_And she realizes it's true, for the first time. This is is, this is the one who will complicate everything, the one who will change everything._

 

+

 

"If we are going to do this, I want you to be there," she says.

"I'm here," he replies, slowly undoing his tie (Skye knows she shouldn't ask if he needs help) and taking off his jacket and folding them over the back of the chair.

"Yeah, and I don't mean _every_ mission. I know you have other resonsibilities."

She crosses her legs on the bed. She suddenly realizes how ugly the pattern of the covers is. She's been in a lot of motels, but it might the ugliest she's ever seen.

"I'm not sure I understand."

"When I make contact with gifted people, I want you to be there if possible," she explains. "I don't want it to be you overseeing the missions from the base and me reporting back. I want us to be partners in this."

"I know it's a big job, but if you think you can't do this... You _can_ do this. I know."

She smiles at his show of confidence in her (not that it's rare, Coulson is the one person in her life obsessed with letting her know what a high opinion he has of her), but he's not getting the message at all.

"It's not that."

"Lincoln said he'd help you if you needed –"

"That's not what I'm saying."

And she sounds a bit impatient so Coulson realizes and pauses. He lets her explain it better herself.

"I think it's important that it's both of us," she tells him.

She remembers Cal's words about not getting mixed up with humans. But he's wrong. And she's – okay, Skye knows she is not human, exactly. But she still feels human, and she wants to stay that way. 

Coulson sits by her side.

"I'm Inhuman," she tells him. "You're human. _And_ SHIELD. I think people should see that. They should see us together."

"Okay," he says. He's not just saying. She knows he finally gets it. She's not that sure he agrees with her idea. She realizes that doesn't matter, he's willing to try anyway.

"I want to protect the Inhumans but not just that," she explains. "I want them to live. And I want them to know they can trust people. People like you."

"Are you so sure we are to be trusted?" Coulson asks. "People like me."

And it's a bit hurtful listening to him talk about himself as something separate from her. Even though Skye was the one to bring it up. They've both tried hard to pretend nothing had changed, that there isn't a divide between them, just by the mere grace of biology. She wonders when Coulson started accepting there is. But maybe the ways biology divides them are not as important as the ways in which everything else connects them.

She touches his hand on the bed cover. That ugly, ugly pattern.

"People _like you_? Yeah, I'm sure."

 

+

 

_When it's too hot he puts ice cubes on her forehead, along her arms._

_"I'm sorry," Jiaying says._

_"It's okay," Cal replies, wiping the sweat off her cheeks. "You never let me take care of you."_

_It's not like he enjoys her discomfort, of course. But he's glad that, if she has to be in discomfort, he can do something for her. He knows he can't do much for her, in general. She doesn't need him and that's okay. He's just a human. But Jiaying chose him. He should be able to at least comfort her with ice cubes and glasses of water. That is simple enough._

_"I'm just not great at this," she comments._

_Which of course, feels pretty odd to him._

_"You're three hundred! How come you've never had a child before?"_

_"I grew up prepared to be my people's leader," she says. "I had to remain objective. Care for everybody under my protection, not just one person."_

_Cal doesn't ask what changed, why she decided to give this a chance. He also doesn't want to ask what will happen once the baby is born, if that will put her in a difficult position with her people. They have reluctantly accepted Cal in their community because Jiaying is so respected. What will they think of her having a baby?_

_Jiaying sighs, bothered by having to deal with the changes in her body and the weather. And it's only spring. A July baby... it's going to be quite a handful. Cal wraps his hand around Jiaying's knee, rubbing it comfortingly._

_"I'm not that great at this either," he tells her._

_"You're a doctor."_

_"Not that kind of doctor."_

_She laughs._

_"I hope the baby knows what she's doing, because we obviously have to idea," Cal adds._

_Jiaying tilts her head. He loves that gesture of hers. "_ She _? We don't know the sex."_

_"I know," he says, embarrassed for having let it slip. "But a father can hope. Right?"_

 

+

 

He really doesn't mean to wake her but sharing a twin motel beds does not leave much room for boundaries.

He's trying not to make noise but she still wakes up, rising from her bed to see Coulson sat up on his, his back to her, rubbing his upper left arm.

"Can you –?" he starts but Skye is already on her feet, crossing the tiny room to fish inside Coulson's overnight bag. Being on the road together doesn't leave much room for boundaries and Coulson decided long ago that this would all be easier if he forgot about pride and accepted Skye's help with some things.

She disappears into the bathroom for a moment and comes back with the painkillers and a glass of water.

"It's the cold, isn't it?"

"I hope you haven't been hacking into Andrew's computer."

"No, don't worry. It's just that – it's happened before. You don't say anything. But I notice."

She says it so quietly, so matter-of-factly.

Coulson nods. He didn't think anyone was looking to notice.

"I don't know – I don't know if the pain is just in my mind," he admits.

Skye wraps her hand around his upper arm, starts rubbing the pained area herself.

"It will pass in a few minutes," she tells him.

He lets her try to comfort her and they stay in silence a while, waiting for the painkillers to work their magic.

"Do you want me to stay?" she offers.

To his shame Coulson can't utter the words – it should be the least he can do, actually ask her – so he just nods desperatedly. She doesn't say anything else, she just helps him lie in bed, lie on his good arm. Even though there's virtually no room Skye lies besides him, pressing her body against his back. She's still rubbing his arm when Coulson falls asleep.

 

+

 

_"Daisy? Why Daisy?" Cal asks. She had promised she'd tell him the name she had picked only after the baby was born. A superstition, nothing else, she knows, but considering it hadn't been an easy birth at all, Jiaying is glad she made that choice._

_"That silly song you used to hum," she says._

_"Daisy Bell?"_

_"We were spending so much time together at the clinic that I ended up picking it up," she explains. "I was alone at home one day and I started to hum it myself like a fool. That's when I knew."_

_"_ Knew _?"_

_She reaches out to press her lips against his for a moment. She's exhausted and her lips are cracked from the heat but Cal makes a pleased noise nonetheless._

_"When I knew I wanted you."_

_And she would like to explain that want is quite different before. She had loved before. She had never wanted something so completely and so selfishly until she met Cal._

_He seems to consider the name for a moment longer._

_"_ Daisy _... okay. And you know, it's in A Space Odyssey. Science and song, yes, it fits. Daisy."_

_Jiaying smiles at him as he tries to look at her daughter as Daisy for the first time._

_"Look at her, she's beautiful," he says, craddling the baby. "Is it normal that her head is so big?"_

_Jiaying laughs softly. "I think so. I don't know, this is the first baby I have."_

_"Well, I don't want any more," Cal jokes. "This one is just perfect, we couldn't make a better one. We should quit while we're ahead."_

_"Did you see her eyes?" she joins. She's seen many beautiful sights in her long life, but nothing like this creature. This tiny tyrant that has her and her husband so madly in love. "She has intelligent eyes."_

_"Like her mother," Cal says._

_"And funny," Jiaying adds. "She's going to be funny, like you."_

_He snorts. "Oh, no, you're the funny one."_

_They could do this for hours, and they seem like they will, too. Watching the baby move in her sleep, looking so comfortable in her father's embrace. The little fingers. Jiaying is a bit stunned by it all – she's been alive for so long, seen so many things happen, and she's never done anything like this herself. Looking at Daisy's fragile frame, she wonders if what she is doing is just reckless._

_"She's going to be a princess," Cal says, in a quieter tone, looking at the tiny person in his arms like she's a goddess. "A Inhuman princess."_

_Jiaying tries to smile but hesitates._

 

+

 

The worst part of a stakeout is that they can't take Lola, for obvious reasons.

On a second thought, Coulson realizes, a stakeout in Lola has to be the most uncomfortable event.

Skye has packed snacks that would have them live through an apocalyse – except no, because Coulson is pretty sure they would _die_ if they eat all this crap. Pop-Tart bites? Because regular Pop-Tarts aren't bad enough. Skye throws one at his face, picking up on the vibe. Blueberry. Yeah why not.

"So this is where our invisible man lives, uh," she comments, looking across the street.

Coulson feels uneasy just considering the existence of the man. It would be problematic enough if he were a good guy, they would still be at a loss about what to do. But all evidence suggests (and that's why they are here) that he is not a good guy. A bad guy with those powers... Coulson feels a knot in his throat. And it's not just the noxious pastries.

"Relax," Skye tells him, picking up on the vibe again.

"How are we supposed to fight an enemy we can't see?"

She gives him a patronizing smile. "Well, _you_ can't see him."

"You can?"

"Yeah. His vibrations."

"This is kind of new," Coulson points out.

"I'm still working on it but basically, I can do that," she explains. "Even if a room is in darkness, I can see. Not _see_. Not like I have backscatter x-rays or anything. But I can feel people, where they are, how they move."

Leaving aside the fact that this ability will come in handy on the field (Coulson suddenly feels a lot less anxious about the existence of invisible men, because of the existence of Skye) this new information, in itself, is stunning.

Skye can do _that_?

"We've shared hotel rooms," he points out to her. "You can feel where I am with the lights off?"

"Coulson, I can feel where you are in _the next room_."

"I'm glad I–" he stops himself. "Wow, I was going to make a wildly inappropriate joke. I'm so sorry, Skye."

Her face lights up. "Oh I know _exactly_ what you were going to say."

She laughs.

Coulson rests his head against the seat, trying to process this. Skye can see in the dark. Uh.

"Are you freaked out?" she asks. Skye is more or less okay with the scope of her powers (well, Coulson didn't know the scope until just now) but sometimes she still lets it slip, that she worries other might see her differently because of them.

"Not freaked out," he admits. "I just– I think you're amazing."

And he does see her differently. But that's not a bad thing. That she's special? He always suspected. It's not a bad thing at all.

 

+

 

_"Cal?"_

_Someone is shaking him by shoulder. What, what?_

_"Yeah?" he replies, pretending he's not half asleep. He has a moment of panic, is the baby okay? But as soon as he sees Jiaying's face he knows it's not about that. Daisy is asleep between them on the bed. Blissfully and obliviously asleep. The heat doesn't seem to affect her. As soon as she hears Jiaying singing her song to her the baby is a goner. Cal knows babies can be difficult, but this one is a dream. She barely cries. She's so quiet._

_"Cal," Jiaying calls again and he looks up._

_He's awake now._

_"What is it?"_

_"I don't want to consume more lives," she says._

_A bit non-sequitur for the middle of the night but he realizes she means it._

_"Are you saying...?"_

_"Yes. I can't do that anymore," she says. Cal remembers when she first told him about her powers, the shame she carried with her because of them. "Not when I have Daisy. And you. I can't take lives like that."_

_"But then you'll –"_

_She smiles._

_"Die? Eventually, yes. Like every other person in history. Seems like a fair exchange," she says, stroking Cal's chin lovingly._

_"What about the elders? The rest of the Inhumans," Cal points out._

_He never meant – he didn't want Jiaying to turn her back on her traditions because of him, he never meant to complicate her life. He would have happily turned around and left. Well, not happily, but he realizes there are more important things in life than his love for this extraordinary woman. He knows in the grand scheme of things he doesn't matter, he's a bleep._

_"I've given them enough of my life," she replies. "They'll have to figure out how to carry on without me."_

_It still doesn't feel right, like he's being selfish just because he feels happy Jiaying is saying all this. "What if they can't? They need you."_

_"There was a community before me. And there will be a community after I leave. Our people can adapt, they have done it before."_

_"Leave? You mean..."_

_"I want to go away with you," she tells him. "Live a normal, finite, human life with you and Daisy."_

_He's alarmed. This is not a possibility he had considered before. "Where? _In Wisconsin_?"_

_"Why not? I could be a person who lives in Wisconsin," she says and Cal laughs at the way she has of putting it. Softly, to avoid waking Daisy. "I could be a doctor like you."_

_"Of course you can," he tells her, immediately thinking about how to enrol her in some med school. Does she even have official documents? She's three hundred years old but does she have a valid ID for the States. Cal thought he would stay with her, next to the Inhumans, forever. He didn't even bother thinking about Daisy's official status. She's Inhuman (half at least), she already has a place in the world. This new revelation, what Jiaying is asking, comes with a million questions Cal is not sure he's ready to answer. "I can take care of Daisy while you study. And then we can work together at my clinic. Go for ice cream in the evening. Oh, there's this bakery near my building–"_

_His wife kisses him._

_It feels like a first kiss._

_Like Jiaying is finally free and herself, to kiss him as she wants._

 

+

 

She drops, half dead from exhaustion, on his bed.

And it is his bed not just because he always takes the one next to the window, but because this is their second (and hopefully last, because fighting a creepy ice person, bummer) night they spend in town and he already slept in this bed. She doesn't care, she just wanted to drop on this one.

Coulson, however, is looking at her weirdly, from under the doorframe, like he's not sure whether he's allowed to step into the room or not.

"I'm so hungry," she says, grabbing the pillow and hugging it against her chest. It smells like Coulson's shampoo and Skye realizes she must be more tired than she thought, because she's exercising so little self-control.

"I can go and buy something," Coulson offers.

"The closest shop is half an hour away, and we're without a car until tomorrow," she reminds him.

"I don't mind," he says, taking the room key and his cell again.

Skye sits up. "You'd do that for me?"

He chuckles, like it's too absurd a question to even dignify it with an answer. He promises her he'll be back soon.

When he comes back and is standing in front of her again (and Skye guesses she must have dozzed off a bit) he has this spooked expression, like he's seen a ghost. He's holding a plastic bag in his hand so Skye assumes he was able to buy some food – which is not that important right now, becaue _his face_ , but she's still hungry and she will still be hungry once she finds out what happened to the man.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

Coulson doesn't reply immediately. He stares at the curtains for a moment, frowning a bit at himself.

"I couldn't decide what to buy," he says, looking at Skye again.

"And that's so tragic because..."

"Can I sit down?" he asks, looking at her bed, his bed, whatever, the bed she's in.

Skye pulls back towards the head, making room for him. "Of course."

He sits, hesitating a moment like he doesn't quite know what sitting entails. He sits close to her, really close to her, which Skye doesn't mind but Coulson must be very out of it if he's invading her space.

"There were some options," he starts again, he sounds a bit like a madman. "Sandwiches, I mean. There were all these options and I was staring at them. For quite a few minutes, really."

Skye looks at the alarm clock. Yeah, that took a bit.

"I couldn't decide," he explains again, this time turning to face her. "You had a rough day and I was standing there in the middle of this gas station thinking _I want to buy something Skye likes_ , I really wanted to do that for you. And I got angry that I couldn't decide. Then it hit me, how absurd it was, worrying about whether you'd like the sandwich or not. I just said to myself _this is stupid, Phil. Skye will like anything you buy her, just because you bought it_."

Coulson stares at her like he's just said something completely Earth-shattering and now he's waiting for her reaction.

"That's a good story but still, I don't get–"

"I realized two things right there, standing in the sandwiches aisle."

Skye shifts, pressing her knees to her chest, leaning closer to Coulson and his confusion. "First of all I doubt there was such a thing as a sandwiches aisle. More like a stand or a display. But yeah, what did you realize? What were the two things?"

"I realized I was in love with you, and I realized you might be in love with me," he says, fast.

Skye gives him a blank stare.

He looks _appalled_.

"You don't have anything to say?" he demands.

"Congratulations?" Then she gives him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, sorry, it's just. I didn't think either of those things was a big secret. So I didn't know it was going to be a big revelation for you."

He looks at her with wide eyes, like she's betrayed him somehow. "You knew about this?"

"You didn't? I figured you knew and were too chicken to do anything yet. And I... I was just enjoying the prologue, you know. Because when things get real, that when things start going bad for me."

Coulson nods and it's obvious he has no idea what to do next. Skye is a bit surprised, because Phil Coulson is the last person she thought was going to be clumsy about this. She always imagined that, when he was ready, he would just swoop her in his arms and waltz them both into a five-star hotel and everything would go smoothly.

But he's not doing any of that, so Skye curls her fingers into the fabric of his tie and pulls him to her, kissing him softly. She's clumsy too but right now, of the two of them, she seems to have the better idea. Maybe because she's not the one in a state of shock.

When she tries to deepen the kiss – Coulson makes a _pathetic_ noise when sher tongue slips gently pass his teeth – he pulls away and breaks it.

"It's okay. You can rest," he tells her. "I just wanted to tell you. I didn't – We don't have to do anything tonight."

"Are you kidding me? You just said you loved me. So maybe there's a chance you won't be opposed to having sex with me."

"I'm not opposed at all," Coulson says, quick and sheepish.

She just smiles warmly. "Well, I'm not going to pass up that chance."

He looks terrified and happy at that.

"But you know, Inhuman stuff, I do need to eat first," Skye reminds me, making him blush a bit. "So what did you bring me?"

He puts the plastic bag between them.

"Grilled chicken sandwich," he says. She makes a disappointed face. "I know, I know, believe me. Couldn't decide, ended up getting something crappy out of sheer inertia. Story of my life."

"Loverboy Coulson is so talkative," she comments. "I like it."

He goes on. "I bought you orange juice to keep your defenses up. And about a dozen bars of Hershey's for energy. And well, because I'm always going to buy you chocolate, let's get that out the way first."

Coulson on the offensive is charming, too, she decides.

She decides she wants him right now.

"Okay, I think food can wait."

She kisses him deep and wild, grabbing the back of his neck while her tongue pushes into his mouth, in a obscene manner this time, nothing gentle or clumsy about it. She's not ashamed of that.

Coulson notices the shift in the mood.

"I thought you were tired," he points out.

"Exhausted," she says with a grin. 

But it kind of works better this way, because she's too tired to put up the usual defenses when it comes to sex, and too tired to be shy about how much she wants Coulson. He's the one doing the restrained act between them, all sweet and patient, like he doesn't want to give everything up just yet.

He has to go out again to buy condoms but fortunately they have a machine in the reception and he doesn't have to walk half an hour again.

Skye watches him undress patiently, and she looks on fascinated, and excited, because she didn't think sex could be slow and calm. It's part of Coulson's shyness, too, how he thinks his naked body might be ugly to her and Skye realizes it frightens him too, a bit, doing this, and she feels less alone. She pushes him against the mattress and climbs on top of him and their love for each other does the rest. Skye thinks about everything that separates him, she thinks _biology_ , and it seems like a joke, because having Coulson inside her feels like nothing could be more natural or fitting. He doesn't last long, and she doesn't come then, but after he finishes he grabs her hips and rolls her on her back, crawling between her knees and pressing his mouth against her arousal. No guy has ever gone down on her on their first time together.

She guesses Coulson is special.

Afterwards they cuddle in the narrow bed, which reminds her of that time they slept together in another motel room, the night his arm was bothering Coulson. She kind of knew things were changing and rushing towards this moment then, but she didn't want to do anything to precipiate them.

"You know, Cal told me to find a nice Inhuman boy," she confesses, now that it's more like something funny and not a curse hanging over her.

Coulson is distracted, kissing her under the ear, like he's enjoying exploring her nakedness quietly and without expectations – she's tired, he's only human – even more than he enjoyed the sex. It takes him a moment to realize what she's talking about.

He lifts his head. "What?"

"Not with those words," she says. "But yeah, my father sort of told me to stay with people like me, don't get too involved with humans."

Coulson seems pensive for a moment. "I understand why he would say that," he tells Skye.

"Me too," she agrees. "But I felt bad for him. Because he loved my mom and she loved him too. No matter what happened afterwards, he should have taken that with him."

"Maybe he wasn't that wrong," Coulson says.

Skye frowns at him. She knows he thinks he's bad for her – not in an asshole kind of way, like other guys have done to make themselves more interesting, but because the reality is that bad things have happened to her because of him. The same could be said about her, but that's not something Coulson would ever contemplate, that Skye is the source of so much of his pain.

"Maybe he wasn't wrong," she repeats, caressing Coulson's shoulder with her thumb. "But I don't care. I'm not an obedient daughter."

Coulson tilts his head to kiss her. He tastes like he is grateful, like he was seriously frightened Skye might consider Cal's advice, after all.

"I'm glad to hear that," he says, dropping his gaze between their bodies, shy. He runs a loving hand across her back, holding her closer. "Because... I want you to stay with me."

It's kind of a too direct requested from the Director, even when he is in love. It's shocking. She's not going to tease him about it.

"Okay," she mutters, weariness finally catching up with her body. She rests her head on the soft place between his shoulder and his chest, pressing her face against his heart and closing her eyes, just about to drift off. "Okay," she repeats, "I'll stay with you."


End file.
